A coepobation of



Feb. 5 1924.- 1,482,808

J. NORTHROP THREAD immune uacmmrsu fjwzzm Patented Feb. 5, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,482,808 PATENT OFFICE.

FACTURING COMPANY, OF MILFORD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OFMASSACHUSETTS.

THREAD-PARTING MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JoNAs NoRTHRoP, a.citizen of the United States, residing at Hopedale, in the county ofWorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Thread-Parting Mechanism; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to an improvement in thread partingmechanism for weft replenishing looms. The object of the invention is toproduce an improved thread parting mechanism for looms operating whenthefilling on the bobbin orfilling carrier has been exhausted to apredetermined extent and the bobbin is about to be ejected from theshuttle to sever it near the shuttle. The parting devices forming thesubject of this invention are mounted on the shuttle feelerand operatedby connections with the weft replenishing mechanism, and while of suchconstruction and arrangement as to be adapted for embodiment in newlooms, are particularly adapted for application to old looms, and tothese ends the invention consists in the mechanism hereinafter describedand claimed. 1

In some aspects the present invention is an improvement on theconstruction illustrated in the application of Jonas Northrop, filedFebruary 25, 1919, Serial No. 279,096 to which by permission, referencemay be had.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment ofthe invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the hopper and associatedparts of a weft replenishing loom showing the application of the threadparting mechanism thereto; Figure 2 is a side elevation similar to Fig.1, showing the parts in position after replenishment has been indicated,and'when the cutter is about to begin the cutting movements which willresult in cutting the thread; and Figure 31s a plan of the same with theparts in the position illustrated in Fig. 2.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the improved threadparting mechanism is shown as mounted upon a feelercontrolled weftreplenishing loom. The parts of the weft replenishing mechanismnecessary for the operation of the thread parting mechanism consist ofthe hopper 10 mounted on the bracket 11 secured to the breast beam 12;the hopper arm .13 .is mounted upon a rock shaft 14, called a changeshaft, which extends along the front side of the loom and is connectedat the other end with the filling feeler mechanism. Mounted upon thetransferrer stud 15 is an arm 16 connected by means of the link 17 withthe shuttle feeler 18, which is mounted upon a stud 19 secured to thehopper plate 10. The shuttle feeler 18 operates in the usual manner.When afresh supply of filling is to be inserted in the shuttle, thehopper arm 13 moves from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the positionshown in Fig. 2, drawing with it the arm 16 to which it is connected bymeans of the spring 20, and thereupon the shuttle feeler is swungrlearwardly or toward the left, as shown in The thread parting mechanismis mounted upon the shuttle feeler, and when the change of filling hasbeen indicated and the lay 22 moves forward with the shuttle 23correctly boxed, the thread parting means is actuated to sever and holdthe old filling extending from the selvage to the shuttle. The threadparting means comprises a movable knife and associated parts forsupporting it in position on the shuttle feeler, means for open ing theknife when replenishing is indicated, mounted on the transferrer stud 15and actuated from the hopper arm 13, and aparter actuating devicemounted on the lay adapted to cause the knife to sever and hold thethread.

The parting and holdingmeans and the actuating devices therefor aredescribed as follows The lower end 30 of the shuttle feeler 18 carriesthe knife 31 pivoted on a pin 36. A bolt 32 passes through the slot 73in the knife 31, whereby the knife is free to be swung upon its pivot36. The knife has a cutting edge at 33 which cooperates with a steelcutting plate 34 received in a re- JONAS NOR'IHROP, OF HOPEDALE,MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HOPEDALE MANU- head of the bolt 32 and theplate 35 so as to press the knife holding plate with spring pressureagainst the knife. It will thus be seen that the knife 31 is yieldinglyheld between the side of the feeler arm and the knife holding plate 35by the resilient pressure of the spring washer 41, and that while theknife may be moved easily under such pressure, the latter is sufficientto hold the knife to any given position towhich it may be moved. Theupper end of the knife 31 carries a strikerblock 50 which is rigidlysecured tothe knife, the knife end being received in a recess in theblock 50, as shown in plan in Fig. 3. From the frontside of the strikerblock 50 a projection 51 extends which is adapted to be engaged by.

the knife opening evire hereinafter referred to. The block 50 is adaptedto be struck by the knife actuating tappet 52, adjustably mounted bymeans of the screw 53 and the slot 55 on the shuttle box top 54. Whenthe knife is actuated by theengagement of the tappet 52 with the knifeblock 50 to cause the knife to sever the thread, the thread is nippedbetween the knife blade 33 and the knife holding plate 35.

The knife opening device consists of the lever 60 pivotally mounted at61 on a projection 62 of the socket piece 63, which is securedby meansof the set screw 64: 011 theend of the transferrer stud 15, the knifeopening lever 60 being held in position on i the pivot pin .62by meansof a cotter pin.

The boss 65, which receives the set screw 64, acts as astop for thelever 60. Above the boss a projection 66 from the lever 60 which isadapted to engage the upper side of the boss, and the lever itself hasan offset portion below the boss which is adapted to engage the underside thereof to limit upward movements of the lever. The rear end, thatis, the depending end, of theiknife opening lever 60 is adapted toengage the projection 51 mounted on the strike block 50, and by pressingagainst such projection, to throw the knife from the position shown inFig. 1 tothe position shown in Fig.2. The forward end of the knife opening lever 60 is offset, as shown in Fig. 3, in a direction to be engagedby a by-pass pawl 67 pivotally mounted (at-68 on a pin projected fromthe side of the head piece 76 secured upon the upper end of the hopperarm 13, and held on the pin by a cotter pin. This .by-pass pawl 67, inthe normal operation of the loom, occupies the position shown in Fig. 1,resting against a stop 69.

Upon forward movement of the hopper arm 13, the end of the pawl 67,which is thickened and thereby weighted so as to normally hold it in theposition shown, engages the front end of the lever 60 and tilts suchlever about its pivot to cause it to open the knife 31. WVhen the hopperarm moves rearwardly after the replenishing operation, the bypass pawl67 rides'up over the end of the knife opening lever 60 and back into theposition shownin F .ig. l. M

.VVhen the hopper arm is moved to the right to the position shown inFig.2, the knife opening lever 60 operates to move the knife from theclosed position shown in Fig. 1 to the open position shown in Fig. 2, before the lower end of the shuttle feeler is moved beyond the range ofaction of the lever 60. At the sa-n'ie time the shuttle feeler is rockedthroughthe medium of the link 17 and turned upon its pivot from theposition shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig.2. Thenas' the laybeats up the yarn extending from the selvage, the filling enters theopen mouth of the knife, and at the extremity of the beat the tappet 52strikes the knife block 50 and actuates the latter to cause it to cutthe yarn. As the yarn is cut the end. extending to the selvage isgripped between the side of the knife and the knife holding plate 35, soas thereby to hold the yarn extending'from the cutter to the selvage. Onthe back stroke of the hopper arm, the knife opening lever being in theposition shown in Fig. 2 is not engaged by the projection 51 on theknife block 50, leaving the knife in its closed position ready for arepetition of the operations. It will thus be observed that the knife ispositively opened by the knife opening device, regardless of the exactposition of movement of the shuttle feeler or of the tension of theactuating spring 20.

The shuttle feeler is mounted on the stud 19 so that it may slidelongitudinally thereof, as described in said application, the feelerbeing provided with an upwardly extending arm 90 which engages a slot 91in the bracket 92 supported on the hopper plate 10. When the feeler isstanding in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1, the cam arm 90occupies a position at the rear end of the slot 91. ward into theposition shown in Fig.2 ready to engage a misplaced shuttle or to severthe thread from a correctly boxed shuttle, then the cam'arm 90 occupiesthe position shown in Fig. 3 at the forwardend of the slot 91. Theswinging and sliding move ments of the feeler result in causing thelatter to move in such a path that the filling thread held thereby isrelieved from excessive tension when the thread artin mechanism movesback to the position s own in Fig. 1, and consequently the danger ofbreakage is eliminated. In this manner the filling thread is held out ofthe path ofthe lay so that this loose end may not be caught up and woveninto the cloth, and furthermore, this loose end of the filling isretained in this position until the thread parter as- When the shuttlefeeler swings rear-.

sociated with the loom temple severs the thread close beside theselvage. The piece of thread is thus held by the feeler parter until theknife is again opened at the time of the succeeding operation of theweft replenishing mechanism.

In the construction illustrated in said application, the link connectionbetween the arm 16 and the shuttle feeler 18 was liable occasionally tocause a cramping of the parts, due to the longitudinal movement of thefeeler. In order to avoid any such action, the link 17 in the presentinstance is composed of two parts pivotally united together. The link 17comprises the hook part 171 having its shank end screw-threaded andreceived in a screw-threaded socket in the clevis 172, being secured inadjusted position by means of a set nut, and the clevis 172, which ispivotally mounted on the second part 173 of the link 17, being securedthereon by means of a cotter pin, as shown, one end of the member 173being received in a hole in the end of the clevis 172, and the other endbeing received in a hole in the arm 16, the latter end serving as apoint of attachment for the rear end of the spring 20 by which themember 173 is held in place in the arm 16.

The present construction is further improved over that shown in the saidapplication by the extension of the floor of the shuttle box 100inwardly, and forming in ita depression 101 inclined forwardly from a ipoint adjacent the reed to the front edge of the lay which receives theopened blade 31 of the knife, and permits the knife to be presented tothe thread in a position lower than that of the said application. Thisis of importance, as it enables the parter to catch the thread in alower position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, weft replenishingmechanism including a hopper arm, a shuttle feeler, a movable knifepivoted thereon, a cutting blade cooperating with the knife, a knifeholding plate, a spring washer cooperating with the holding plate toyieldingly hold the knife in any position to which it may be moved, alever pivotally mounted on a stationary portion on the machine, and abypass pawl carried by the hopper arm adapted to engage the lever toopen the knife upon operation of the hopper arm.

2. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a hopper armprovided with a bypass device, a shuttle feeler, a thread partingmechanism provided with a knife pivoted on the shuttle feeler, meanscarried by a stationary part of the loom and operated by the bypassdevice on the hopper arm to open the knife to engage the thread when thehopper arm moves in one direction, and a lay adapted to engage the knifeto close the same and sever the thread.

3. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a hopper armprovided with a by-pass device, a shuttle feeler pivoted above the lay,a thread parter comprising cutting blades mounted on the shuttle feeler,and lever mounted on a stationary portion of the machine and adapted tobe engaged by the bypass device for actuating the parter to open theblades.

4:. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a hopper arinprovided with a bypass device, a shuttle feeler pivoted above the lay, athread parter comprising cutting blades mounted on the shuttle feeler,and a lever mounted on a stationary portion of the machine adapted to beactuated by the by-pass device for actuating the parter to open theblades, said lever engaging one of the parter blades to open them duringthe shuttle feeling movement of the feeler but not at other times.

5. A weft replenishing loom having, in combination, a hopper arm, ashuttle feeler pivoted above the lay, a thread parter comprising cuttingblades mounted on the shuttle feeler, a lever mounted on a stationaryportion of the machine for actuating the parter to open the blades, saidhopper arm being provided with a by-pass pawl to actuate the parteropening lever when the hopper arm is moved to indicate replenishmentbutnot when moved in'the opposite direction, and means for adjusting thepawl to increase or diminish the throw of the parter opening lever.

JONAS NORTHROP.

